Refrigerator



UNTTED STATES YWALTER T. FORD 1S,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF A'lIn/XNIA, GEORGIA.

REFRIGERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 397,791, dated February 12, 1889.

Application tiled May 16, 1888. Serial No@ 274,114. (No model.)

To all who/1t it 'ntf/y concern Be it known that I, IALTER T. FORBES, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Atlanta,in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia, have invented a new and useful Refrigerator; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to malle and use the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, and to letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specication.

This invention has :for its object the more economical usc of icc in the cooling of refrigerators, and also to prevent the accumulation ofV moisture therein; and it consists of pipes' and fines to conduct the air that is caused to circulate by its constantly-changing temperature without coming in contact with the ice, the details of all of which will lbe hereinafter fully set forth, and the parts thought to be new pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an elevation, partly in section, on the line 1, Fig. 2, showing the interior of the refrigerating-chamber and theinterior of the ice-chamber, also showing the pipes in the ice-chamber, the fines leading thereto and the pipe leading therefrom, the waste-water coil of pipes, and the valves for draining the wastewater pipes. Fig. 2 is a top view with the cover removed, showing the interior of the ice-chamber of the ice-box and the iiues leading thereto, and having connection, by perforations with the interior of the refrigerator. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the system of pipes that is in the ice-box with its inlet and outlet.

In the several views, like reference-marks indicating corresponding parts, B is the interior of the refrigerating-chamber, and C is the interior of the ice-chamber. These chambers may be constructed in any approved manner that will furnish walls that will afford the proper resistance to the transmission of heat. The construction of these chambers so long as they Vtill these requirements being immaterial, I have shown them of the ordinary construction in refrigerators-that is, having outer and inner walls, theintervensidered preferable.

ing space being iilled with charcoal, mineral wool, or other non-conducting material. Itis also innnaterial that the ice-ehamber be placed at the side of the. refrigerating-cham ber, it may be placed within it, the pipes and fines leading the air to and from it in the same manner as that hereinafter described for the form of construction shown, which, however, in allof its details is con- 'lhe ice-chamber is provided with a removable cover at the top, which need never be opened except-ing for the purpose of putting in ice, by reason of which and by reason of the system of draht age and the system of carrying and cooling the air for refrigerating-chamber the ice need never come in contact with the outer air after being placed in the ice-chamber.

The chambers l and C are connected together with pipes and tlues to provide for the transfer ot' heat from the refrigeratingchamber to the ice-chamber by convection, the air expanding by the absorption of heat pissing upwardly and through the holes d,

vand through the .fines D and D and through the pipes that surround the ice in the icechamber in the form of a cage, and consisting of the pipes X, Y, and Z, the inlets F and G, connecting with tlues D and D', and the pipes z, connecting by a tive-way joint with the pipe E, thus placing the greater part of the pipearea in the position that the ice will unt-il exhausted come in direct contact with it. The air in these pipes on being cooled and contracted will pass by gravity back into the refrigerati11g-chamber through the pipe E. The pipes in the ice-chamber should be arranged substantially as shown in the drawings, but best shown in Fig. S that is, they should have inlet-openings F and G at the top to connect with the fines D and D, as shown in Fig. 2, and outlet-pipe E to conduct the air that has been rendered heavier by the removal of a portion of its heat to the chamber B, where it innnediately goes to the bottom and rises as it becomes expanded by the absorption of heat to again make the circuit, as above described,

It is obvious that, the ice being isolated in a chamber such as that shown and resting against the pipes forming said chamber, heat IOO ' will be absorbed from the air that they contain at any temperature above 32 Fahrenheit, until a sufficient quantity of heat shall have been absorbed by the ice to furnish the necessary sensible and latent heat to liquefy it, and that the air condensed by cooling will descend by gravity into the refrigerati ngu chamber and force upwardly the air that shall have become lighter by the absorption ofheat .from the contents of that chamber and continually make tbe circuit oli' that chamber and pipes as above described, and that the air will make the circuit with a rapidity in proportion to the quantity of heat given oft' by the contents of the refrigerating-clianiber and the area of the contact of the ice with-the pipes. For the latter reasonA l place the greater portion of the pipe-area in the bottom of the ice-chainbcr. The water resnltinglfrom' the melting; ice is carried by the pipe L, connectingI with the interior of the ice-chamber, to the upwardly-inclined pipes M, through which it passes successively, each of these pipes eX- cepting' theV last being bent down from its point of highest inclination and connected to Thelowest end of the next inclined pipe M below it, the last one of the series being` in'-' stead connected to the drain-pipe N, as are the projecting lowerends of all of the pipes BL The pipes M are provided at a point near their intersection with the drain-pipes with stoplcocks n.; To prevent these pipes from freezing in extremely cold weather, all of the waiter therein may be drawn oil. throughthese stop-cocks and the pipes N; but at all other times these stop-cocks should be closed to force the water to make the circuit of the pipes M `for the purpose of causing it teabsorb any excess of heat inthe refrigerating-V chamber over that in the water resultingfroin the-'melting ice.

It will be observed that in this device the air docs not come in contact with the melting` ice, and consequently does not absorb from it any moisture, but will remain in a condition that will be the least likely to convey from one article in there'frigerating-chamber the peculiar odor of that article to another.

Having1 thus described my invention, what If claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ot' the United States, is

l. The combination, in a refrigerator, of a provision-chamber provided with ues lin its ceiling communicating` through a series of perforations with the interior of the chamber, of an ice-receptacle attached to the upper portion of said chamber, but completely separated therefrom, a series of connectedair pipes arranged in said receptacle and eomvv municating at the upper part tliereofwitli said rines, a curved pipe connected to the" lower part of said series and opening into the` provision-chambernear the bottom thereof,

and a tortuous drip-pipe leading from theiceiV receptacle through' the provision-chamber;

2'. In a refrigerator to drain the ice-cham' ber and utilize therefrigerating properties of the Water Vso'V drained from said ice-chainALV ber, the inclined pipes M, connected tothe" ice-ch amber, each pipe beingbentdownwardly at its higher-end and connected to thelower end of the pipe next below, and the stopcocks n on the outside of the chamb'erand connected with the lower ends ot" the pipes M,

substantially as shown and described, and for the purpose specied.

In testimony whereof l hereunto afix my signature in presence oftwo witnesses.

Y VALTER T. FORBES; Witnesses:

A. P. Woon, J: M BRosIUs. 

